I have a vintage Minolta XG-M film cam that I brought out of mothballs today. Boy, how'd I EVER get a photo from it. ? Not very often did I get a keeper, because it took digital technology to help me learn about exposure, depth of field, etc.

Kinda fun playing with the little thing , though. It brings back many memories.

I usually used it in Auto mode , because I refused to use my brain and learn the thing.

Hooray for digital, I say. Film has it's place, but digital makes so much more sense unless a person has his/her own darkroom.

Anyone else have a similar journey with shooting with film and THEN digital.? :er:

not to be a flamer, but may i say to the OP, you are the sort of photographer i despise. the kind that relies on digital technology and would not be able to produce quality images on a manual camera, even one with a light meter as i'm assuming your minolta has.

I must defend the OP here as well. This last Christmas I bought a Rebel Digital xT for my wife so she would have a digital camera to use with her EF lens and not have to pay to have everything processed. I decided to play with it one day. I checked out all of the options, went through the owner's manual. And I came to the following conclusion.

I WOULD ABSOLUTELY SUCK AS A DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER!

What the hell is white balance? What the flippin' flamin' is a histogram? I am an ADVANCED hobbyist film photographer who processes and prints his own. I would like to think I have gained a certain technical knowledge and proficiency in the past twenty years. And I am humbled by this digital monster before me.

Traditional photography and digital photography are two completely different animals. Digital is more than point, shoot and upload. Film is much more than chemicals and an enlarger. It takes time and effort and more time and even more time to acheive any sort of mastery in photography and doubly so if you ahve done so in with silver as well as with silicon.

So, let's all try and not be insulting just because someone paints with light by using a different brush. After all, we are ALL only about 100 years removed from being an abomination to painters. Still are in some circles. We should all observe the end result and respect the thumps taken in getting there, regardless of where we have ended up. It's what we do with it that matters.